Legal Aid

[philosowatzit]

I currently have legal aid for family proceedings. I've heard this will end next year. Will legal aid continue in my case until a conclusion is reached, or will it be automatically stopped at the end of the year?

If a conclusion is reached and a final order made, can my ex get legal aid again to take me back to court for other reasons (I have doubt he will). Would it be a new application, and would this be approved? or would his legal aid just continue until he his happy? (which will be never!)

Will end April 2013, but as far as I know existing cases will continue to be funded. At the end of the case the funding ends. To bring a new claim later on the new rules (ie no LA) will then apply.

How is that going down in your neck of the woods Collaborate? I used to practice there and about 90% of the clients were on LA.

Where I am at the moment, LA has already pretty much died a death, only one firm in a fairly large town still do it and they have a horrendous waiting list.

Sorry for hijack, OP

I stopped personally doing LA work around 4 months ago. No increase in the amount of private work, but I can now give my private clients the service they pay for, and my billing has actually increased. I simply couldn't return to LA work any more, especially in view of the 10% cut in fees across the board that they are bringing out in February.

A lot of justice will be denied to a lot of people when LA gets withdrawn. Let's not kid ourselves, it is being withdrawn.

Yes, and I don't honestly know what's going to happen. I haven't done Legal Aid for about 10 years and as I'm in an affluent part of the SE, costs haven't gone down, but I know that at least half of my clients are getting a lot of their costs paid by their parents.

Hijack away guys, it's good to know that solicitors and barristers really care. After all that's why you guys got into law, to help people right? It's a shame for sure, but also understandable, because grown ups should surely be able to sort out their differences outside of the court arena. Could they not have found a way of weeding out the really serious claims, where there is definite evidence, albeit, not much. Do you think the costs of expert witnesses has had a bearing?

Expert witness costs in children proceedings have risen exponentially in recent years. Yes, it's a huge factor. When experts can get away with charging £200 an hour, well, ......

And the rest..... are they really impartial?

Usually, yes.

Is it true that they can now be held accountable for mis-information, mis-leading statements without the protection of 'immunity' from the courts?

Expert witnesses have lost their immunity from being sued over matters arising in court proceedings, but ?Establishing negligence against credible and experienced expert witnesses will still not be easy.'

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2011/13.html

Ok, I wonder, if you have evidence that the expert made assumptions regarding certain issues, and did not make attempts to prove those assumptions, or accept proof of truth, would legal aid funding cover such an issue? In other words, would legal aid fund the suing of an expert witness whose opinion resulted in extreme risk to a child?